Aluminum stockpiles in Japan decline to 15-year low
Thursday, 13 August 2009
SINGAPORE, Aug 12 (Bloomberg): Aluminum stockpiles in Japan declined by 16 per cent in July from a month earlier to the lowest level in at least 15 years as traders reduced imports following a slump in domestic demand.
Inventories in Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka ports fell to 174,200 metric tons at the end of last month from 207,600 tons on June 30, trading company Marubeni Corp. said today. That's the smallest volume since the company, Japan's largest aluminum importer, began compiling data in June 1995, and compared with 202,300 tons a year earlier.
Japan's producer prices fell at a record pace in July, a central bank report showed today, as oil traded lower than last year and companies required fewer materials amid the nation's worst postwar recession. The report highlighted concern that deflation will become entrenched and hamper an economic rebound.
Stockpiles declined as trading companies and aluminum rolling mills pared purchase volumes under supply contracts this year on anticipation of worsening demand, according to Marubeni.
The costs companies pay for energy and unfinished goods declined 8.5 per cent in July from a year earlier after sliding a revised 6.7 per cent in June, the Bank of Japan said today in Tokyo. The median estimate of 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for an 8.7 per cent drop.
The year-on-year decline in costs was the biggest since the central bank started compiling the report in 1960. From June, prices rose 0.4 per cent, today's report showed.
Signs of deflation are spreading. Consumer prices excluding fresh food, the central bank's preferred gauge of inflation, fell a record 1.7 per cent in June from a year earlier.
Japan's June domestic and export shipments of aluminum rolled products dropped 21.6 per cent to 158,605 tons from 202,221 tons a year earlier, the Japan Aluminium Association said July 28. The pace of decrease slowed for a fourth month after starting to decline in October. Shipments plunged 39 per cent in February, the worst slump in 34 years.
Aluminum for three-month delivery climbed 0.3 per cent to $1,935 a ton on the London Metal Exchange at 12:23 p.m. Tokyo time. The metal has gained 26 per cent this year after dropping 36 per cent in 2008.
Inventories in Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka ports fell to 174,200 metric tons at the end of last month from 207,600 tons on June 30, trading company Marubeni Corp. said today. That's the smallest volume since the company, Japan's largest aluminum importer, began compiling data in June 1995, and compared with 202,300 tons a year earlier.
Japan's producer prices fell at a record pace in July, a central bank report showed today, as oil traded lower than last year and companies required fewer materials amid the nation's worst postwar recession. The report highlighted concern that deflation will become entrenched and hamper an economic rebound.
Stockpiles declined as trading companies and aluminum rolling mills pared purchase volumes under supply contracts this year on anticipation of worsening demand, according to Marubeni.
The costs companies pay for energy and unfinished goods declined 8.5 per cent in July from a year earlier after sliding a revised 6.7 per cent in June, the Bank of Japan said today in Tokyo. The median estimate of 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for an 8.7 per cent drop.
The year-on-year decline in costs was the biggest since the central bank started compiling the report in 1960. From June, prices rose 0.4 per cent, today's report showed.
Signs of deflation are spreading. Consumer prices excluding fresh food, the central bank's preferred gauge of inflation, fell a record 1.7 per cent in June from a year earlier.
Japan's June domestic and export shipments of aluminum rolled products dropped 21.6 per cent to 158,605 tons from 202,221 tons a year earlier, the Japan Aluminium Association said July 28. The pace of decrease slowed for a fourth month after starting to decline in October. Shipments plunged 39 per cent in February, the worst slump in 34 years.
Aluminum for three-month delivery climbed 0.3 per cent to $1,935 a ton on the London Metal Exchange at 12:23 p.m. Tokyo time. The metal has gained 26 per cent this year after dropping 36 per cent in 2008.